SD Vision - Halyps Cement

MATREC: the value
of building
material waste
Aggregates are natural resources that
deserve specifi c attention not only in
production phase but also in usage and
recovery. Over years, the strong commitment
towards a sustainable management of the
quarries and the development of innovative
solutions in recycling of concrete building
materials have been consistent with the
general trends in the policy of GSM,
Italcementi Group’s subsidiary in France
specialising in the aggregate business.
Besides the recognition in the environmental
management of its quarry activities, GSM
is driving initiatives in the fi eld of building
material recycling such as the one in Lille,
a large community in the North of France.
To provide a sensible solution to an urban
concern, the disposal of deconstruction
material waste, was the challenge that
GSM has been taking up since 2004 with
the “MATREC project” (MAT: materials;
REC: recyclable). On the commercial
platform, storing “fi rst hand” aggregates,
there are now between 50 and 70 K tons of
sub products coming from building material
waste. Formerly discharged into a rubbish
dump, they are now recycled, treated,
valorised and commercialised. Upon receipt,
these materials are crushed and mixed with
lime or cement to provide quality products
mainly for road undercoat, embanked road
or fi lling for drain.
Meeting customer
needs with Coloured
and Filter concrete
Set, Italcementi Group’s subsidiary in
Turkey, collaborated in the architectural
project for the Istanbul Technical University
Metrology Center Building containing
Coloured concrete surfaces with visible
aggregates texture, whose design was
fi nalized after some tests on different
colour tones. In close collaboration with
both the architects and the construction
fi rm, Set produced various alternative
colour scales using pigments in liquid
and dust forms, from several companies,
with different mix-designs. The samples
provided were also used by the construction
fi rm to test the sand blasting process
and to visualize the fi nal surface for the
Building material waste can be treated, recycled, valorised and commercialised
architects. The coloured concrete was also
requested to be Self Levelling Concrete.
Therefore, further tests were performed
to ensure the pigments did not react with
Filter concrete
the specifi c chemical additives used for the
SLC property.
Filter concrete is a porous concrete that
is water permeable. It is most commonly
used in outdoor fl oors and retaining walls
to allow proper drainage of rain water.
Set provided about 1,000 m 3 of fi lter
concrete to meet the needs of its client
for the Harbiye Congress Valley project.
Walking areas and terraces accounting for
a total area of 12,000 m 2 were covered
with granite tiles with a 2 cm spacing. In
order to enable uniform drainage of the
fl oors, the client requested a concrete that
would be water pereable. Set suggested
the use of fi lter concrete beneath the tiles
and bedding it with an isolation layer that
drained the accumulated water.
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